Many of us have seen at least one gay or straight rom-com, in which the nebbish-y lead character, played by the movie’s writer/director, ends up making out (or more) with another hot lead character. In a way, that’s the fantasy part of actor/writer/director Matt Shear’s “Fantasy Life” (Greenwich Entertainment).
Sam (Shear), a newly unemployed law school dropout barely dealing with his panic attacks and social anxiety, unexpectedly lands a gig as a “manny” (male nanny) through Helen (Andrea Martin), the wife and receptionist for his therapist Fred (Judd Hirsch). The job entails looking after their granddaughters Zoe (Romy Fay), Claire (Callie Santoro), and Emma (Riley Vinson). The girls’ parents are Helen and Fred’s musician son David (Alessandro Nivola) and his wife Dianne (Amanda Peet), an actress returning to work for the first time in more than a dozen years.
Sam gets off to a rough start, and things don’t necessarily improve, as his panic attacks put more lives than his own in jeopardy. Having made it through spring, Sam accompanies the family to their summer home on Martha’s Vineyard. There he encounters Dianne’s mother Toby (Jessica Harper) and conservative father Lenny (Bob Balaban). Lenny, who has an instant dislike of Sam, keeps insisting that he be sent back to the mainland.
Things reach a fever pitch during dinner with the adults. An inebriated David, who is also wary of Sam, accuses Dianne of having had sex with him (they only briefly kissed and Dianne put an end to it) and creates a scene before driving off in his Jeep and crashing it (he survives). Sam is sent packing and takes the ferry back to Boston where he is picked up by his Astoria roommate Alan (Sheng Wang) and Jenny (Zosia Mamet), Alan’s new girlfriend.
By fall, a lot of healing is taking place, including David, who is still recovering from the accident. When Sam and Dianne run into each other in the waiting room of therapist Dr. Green (out actor Holland Taylor), they agree to meet after their sessions at a nearby diner. Peet’s performance, with the therapist and at the diner with Sam, is riveting and serves as a reminder of her solid acting abilities.
Shear deserves points for not only featuring a (humorous) discussion of Sam’s sexuality but also including queer characters: David’s lesbian sister Becky played by Sophie von Haselberg (daughter of Bette Midler) and her doula wife Jennifer (out actor Roberta Colindrez). Additionally, the way Shear handles the issue of mental health is also admirable. The three songs by gay band The Magnetic Fields featured in the movie are a bonus.
Rating: B-
